Life-saving net for cars



2 sheets-sheet 1.

(No Model.)

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L. DULLGAN.` LIFE SAVING NET FOR GARS.

Patented July 16 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE DULLIGAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

'LIFE-SAVING NET FOR CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming" part of Letters Patent NO. 542,877, dated July16, 1895. Application filed September 16, 1893. Serial No. 485,712. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that LLAWEENCE DULLTGAN, of Rochester, in the county'ofMonroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Life-Saving Nets for Cars; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My invention has for its objects to provide an improved attachment forstreet and other cars adapted to prevent loss of life by and injury topersons who may be struck by the car while in motion, which attachmentis simple in construction and is preferably normally beneath the car andout of the way, permitting the coupling of cars, &c.,but may beprojected in proper position to engage and support a person orobstruction on the track.

when desirable; and to these and other ends it consists in certainimprovements in construction and combinations ot' parts, all as will behereinafter fully described, and the novel features pointed out in theclaims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of astreet-car, showing the application of my invention thereto. Fig. 2 is aplan view of the same'with portions broken away; Fig. 3,'a longitudinalsectional view on the line a: a: of Fig..2 with the slides retracted.Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the car with the attachment retracted;Fig. 5, a sectional view on the line y y of Fig. 2; Fig 6, a sectionalview on the line ,e z of Fig. 2; Fig. 7 a. sectional view of the frontportion of the netframe.

Similar reference-numerals indicate similar parts in the severalfigures.

The body of the car, indicated by 1 in the drawings, is of the usual orany preferred construction, having the front platform 2 and thc dash orfront 3. Beneath the platform 2 and arranged on opposite sides are twosupporting bars or ways 4, upon which are arranged movable slides 5,each having downward extensions, between which are pivoted bars 6,extending forward and connected at their forward ends byva cross-bar 7,the two pivoted bars and the cross-bar constituting a frame forsupporting a net 8, attached to the front of the frame at one end and atthe other to a rod 9 on the dash or front ofthe car, as shown.

The forward ends of the bars 6 are provided with wheels 10, adapted,when desired, to rest upon the rails or the ground and extending,preferably, parallel with the cross-bar 7, and just back of it is arock-shaft 11, having short curved arms 12, and preferably within thisrock-shaft'are one or more springs 13, connected to the side bars 6, (orto studs arranged Within' the ends of the rock-shaft) which tend to r0-tate the said shaft and hold it normally with the arms 12 in theposition shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2 and in dotted lines, Fig.7. The

net 8, which may be composed of any suitable flexible material, asnetting or canvas,iscon nected to the under side of the rock-shaft 11,forward of the center, as in Fig. 7, and is normally held taut by thesprings; but when a weight, as the body of a person, is in the net the'shaft will be rocked and the arms 12 turned up, as in full lines inFig. 7, thereby preventing its dropping out again.

As before stated, the slides 5 are movable longitudinally on the ways /1and are, when the device is in use, held at the forward ends thereof bymeans of springs 14, attached to the slides and to brackets 15 beneaththe car. By this means not only may the net-frame be projected, whendesired, (its normal position being retracted, as in dotted lines, Fig.1,) but when in use and projected the springs will serve to reduce theshock when a person drops into the net. When the net is retractedagainst the tensionv of the springs, the wheels 10 may either rest uponthe track or the frame may be supported in the position in dotted lines,Fig. 1, by small rollers 16 on the arms of vertical rock-shafts 17, saidrollers projecting at an angle to the shafts and adapted when turnedinward to pass beneath the side bars of the net-frame, or they may beturned outward or parallel with the bars, so as not to engage them, aswill be understood.

In order that the draw-head 18 of the car may be readily accessible forcoupling or the attachment of horses, I provide a supplemental net orapron 19, the sides of whichare attached by rings to the side rods of asupplemental frame 20, pivoted to the car front, the attachment beingsuch that the rings can slide ICO on said rods, and the lower end ofthis apron is connected to a wire or other frame 21, connected to thelower end of the main net-frame, but preferably to the rock-shaft11,fromwhich it will be seen that when the net-frame is retracted the apron 19will be lifted and the draw-head exposed, as in Figs. 1 and 4.

As a means for retracting the net-frame and releasing it when desired, Iarrange at the front of the car two shafts 24 and 25, each" supported insuitable bearings, and provided near the outer end, in line with thebrackets 5, with a pulley 26, to which is connected one end of a strapor cord 27, the other end con` nected to a bracket 5 and passing aroundthe rear end of the rod or way 4, as in Fig. 3. The inner proximate endsof the shafts 211 or 25 are provided with bevel-gears 28, adapted tomesh with a bevelgear 29 secured to a vertical shaft 30, said shaftbeing arranged in vertical bearings on the car and capable of a limitedvertical motion, the engagement of the gears being caused by a spring31, arranged betweengear 29 and `the car-platform or a suitableprojection. rllhe shaft is further provded-at the upperend with an`operating-handle 32 and also with a ratchetwheel 33, with which engagesa pawl 34 on the, floor, operated by a spring 35. In order to keep thegear29 in engagement a movable locking-bolt 36 is employed, projectedinto a groove in the shaft by a spring 37, and said bolt and the pawl 34are both connected to the upper end of a foot-lever 38, pivoted at 39,the lower end passing beneath the shaft and serving, when the upper endis moved downward, to raise said shaftand disengage the gears, themovement also serving to first withdraw the bolt 36 and the pawl 34, asin Fig. 6.

The operation of the device will now be apparent.

The net-frame may be kept projected, as in full lines, Fig. 1,when itwill serve to receive and retain a person orobject on the track, or itis preferably in the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,'and inorder` to put it in this position, the gears being engaged and retainedin engagement, the operator turns the shaft 30, winding the cords 27 onthe pulleysand vdrawing the frame backward against the tenand retainedwithout injury.

It will be understood that the construction of the parts could bevariously `modified without departing from the spirit of my invention-4as foi-instance, springs `for projecting the netframe could kbe made topush instead of pulling on the brackets .or slides.

It will be understood that while l have shown and described a net forreceiving the person or object on the track an apron of canvas or anymore or less flexible material would answer the same purpose.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with the Vehicle, of theways thereon, the slides movable on the ways, the net-frame pivoted tosaid slides, springs for moving the slides forward, and retainingdevices for holding the net-frame retracted against the tension of thesprings, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vehicle, of the net-frame movable oniways, thenet having the aperture, and the supplemental apron or net connected tothe forward part of the frame and the vehicle, and adapted to cover theaperture in the main net when the frame is moved outward anduncoveritvwhen moved inward: substantially as described.

3. The combination with a vehicle, of the `net-frame movable on ways,the net having the aperture, the supplemental apron or net connected tothe vehicle, and adapted to cover the aperture in the` main net, and therods connected to the end of the apronand to the front of the mainframe, whereby the aperture will be covered when the `frame is proframe,whereby when thenet is projected the apron will cover the aperture, butwhen retracted it will be uncovered: substantially as described.

5. The combinationrwith` the vehicle, the net frame, having therockishaft at the front provided with the rearwardly-extending retainingarms, of the net attached atene end to the rock shaft: whereby the`weight of a body in the net will rotate the rock shaft and elevate thearms: substantially as described.

The combination with the vehicle, the net frame having the rock shaft atthe front provided withthe retaining arms, and the spring for rotatingit and holding the` arms down, of the net attached at one end to therock shaft, whereby the weight of a body. in the net will rotate therock shaft and elevate thearms: substantiallyasdescribed.

. 7. The combination with a vehicle, a frame `movable thereon, a netconnected to said frame and springs for projecting the frame, 0f a shaftadapted to be rotated by the operator, and a retainingdevice therefor,and sep arable connections between said shaft and the net frame, wherebythe net-frame may be retracted by the operationof the shaft and then IOOreleased allowing the springs to project it, substantially as described.

8. The combinv :ihn with a vehicle, guides thereon, a frame? iding onsaid guides, and springs for projecting said frame, of the rotatableshafts, cords connecting them with the frame, and retaining devices forholding the frame retracted against the tension of the springs,substantially as described.

9. The combination with a vehicle, a frame movable thereon, springs forprojecting it and a net connected to said frame, of the shafts havingthe gears and the pulleys thereon,the cords connecting the pulleys andnet frame, the rotatable shaft having the gear, retaining devicestherefor, and means for disconnecting the gear on said shaft from thoseon the pulley shafts: substantially as described.

10. The combination with a vehicle, a frame movable thereon, springs forprojecting it and a net connected to the frame, of a shaft having apulley and a gear thereon, a cord connecting the pulley and net frame, ashaft having a gear meshing with the first mentioned on eand a lever fordisconnecting the gears underV the control of the operator:substantially as described.

l1. The combination with a Vehicle, a frame movable thereon, springs forprojecting it and a net connected to the frame, of a shaft having apulley and a gear thereon, a cord connecting the pulley and net frame,ashaft having a gear meshing with the first mentioned one, a boltholding the gears in engagement, and a lever operating to withdraw thebolt and disconnect the gears: substantially as described. Y

13. The combination with a vehicle, of the frame movable thereon, havingthe inclined pivoted side bars and the net connected to said frame, ofthe projections engaging the side bars of the frame, and adapted to lifttheir forward ends as the frame is retracted: substantially asdescribed. o

14. The combination with a vehicle, of the frame movable thereon, havingthe inclined pivoted side bars, the rollers at the fron-t and the netconnected to the frame, of the rock lShafts having the projecting armsadapted to be turned in line with or away from the side bars of theframe, whereby the bars may be lifted as the frame is retracted, whendesired: substantially as described.

15. The combination with a vehicle, of the pivoted frame movable onWays, springs for projecting said frame, and retaining devices forholding the frame retracted against the tension of the springs,substantially as described.

LAWRENCE DULLIGAN.

Witnesses:

FRED F. CHURCH, J ENNIE DULLIGAN.

